News

New York’s governor has given nearly $700,000 to the town of Ramapo and the village of New Square to install license plate readers and security cameras. The funding comes in the wake of the Hanukkah stabbing incident at the Forshay Road home of Rabbi Chaim Rottenberg where dozens had gathered to celebrate the holiday. The suspect was nabbed after his license plate was given to the police and tracked by the NYPD. Governor Andrew Cuomo said the anti-Semitic activity in Ramapo and around the country are part of a cancer that is spreading, and dismissed the idea that more plate readers are infringing on motorists’ right to privacy…

Kevin Bruen is the First Deputy Superintendent of the New York State Police, and said the new plate reading systems will be installed in New Square and Monsey…

The governor also wants to see more funding for additional state police in the Hate Crimes unit, a domestic terrorism law and more funding for schools and religious organizations to put in security measures. 37 year-old Grafton Thomas of Greenwood Lake pleaded not guilty to federal charges yesterday stemming from the attack, in which five were injured, one remains hospitalized in a coma. His attorney is reportedly considering asking for a competency hearing to determine if Thomas is fit to stand trial. His family has said he has mental health issues. The New York Post says Thomas could face the death penalty if a comatose victim dies of his injuries.

A man was critically injured yesterday after crashing into the back of a tractor-trailer on the New York State Thruway during the morning commute. The driver appeared to have struck the truck while it was stopped on the shoulder. The driver had to be extricated from the vehicle. He was then taken to a nearby field and airlifted to Westchester Medical Center with life-threatening injuries. The driver of the truck was reportedly uninjured. The crash is under investigation.

Saint Thomas Aquinas College is in mourning for a student who died while at home in Australia over the winter break. LoHud.com says 21-year-old Eric Birighitti fell into the ocean and drowned earlier this month. The soccer star was a junior in the STAC School of Business. STAC President Margaret Fitzpatrick asked the school community to pray for him and his family.

A man whose body was found by a family of ATV riders in Harriman State Park in Suffern over the weekend has been identified. New York State Police Commander Major James Michael in Middletown says 58 year-old Andrew Columbia of Suffern apparently died after he was thrown from his own ATV while riding up a steep hill and the vehicle flipped. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The Suffern Police Department, Ramapo Police Department, Parks Police, and the Tallman Fire Department all assisted New York State Police in the incident.

An Orangeburg man was sentenced earlier this month to 22 years in prison for the beating death of a Rockland Psychiatric Center patient in 2017. 55 year-old Alias Stone, also a patient of RPC at the time, was found guilty of manslaughter last year. Rockland’s D-A says Randolph had been punched and stomped on while he was on the floor, unconscious and defenseless. Ronald Randolph died from his injuries about two weeks later.